Consumer Alert
Serious health claims for CBD products need proof
Three companies that tout their cannabis-derived products as miracle treatments for serious illnesses have gotten letters from the FTC warning that they’re at risk for legal action unless they have sound scientific evidence to back up their claims. The companies sell oils, capsules, edible gummies, and creams that contain cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound derived from the cannabis plant.
One company claims that CBD works like “magic” to relieve even the most agonizing pain. The company claims CBD has been clinically proven to treat diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. The second company’s website says CBD products are proven to treat twenty health conditions, including autism, anorexia, cancer, and AIDS. The third company’s site promotes CBD edible gummies as highly effective at treating the root cause of most major degenerative diseases. It also claims its CBD cream relieves pain and that its CBD oil may effectively treat depression, PTSD, epilepsy, and other diseases.
This week, the FTC sent letters that urge the companies to review all claims — including consumer testimonials — made for their products, to ensure they’re backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The letters tell the companies to notify the FTC within 15 days of the specific actions they have taken to address the agency’s concerns.
Talk with your doctor before you try a healthcare product you find online. Find out about the product’s risks, side effects, and possible interactions with any medications you’re taking
Search Terms
Topics
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.
In reply to What companies? This would be by Stephanie
In reply to What companies? This would be by Stephanie
The warning letters do not represent the FTC’s judgment about the quality of particular CBD brands. It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.
In reply to and no mention of the company by TD in CT
The warning letters do not represent the FTC’s judgment about the quality of particular CBD brands. It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.
In reply to Company names would be by cathp
It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.
In reply to What are the names of the by ConcernedCitiz…
It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.
In reply to Please publish the name of by Retired
It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.
In reply to It's best to be highly by FTC Staff
In reply to I believe it does make a by Margo
The warning letters do not represent the FTC’s judgment about the quality of particular CBD brands. It's best to be highly skeptical about the extreme health claims that some CBD sellers are making about their products. If a company is marketing CBD for the treatment or prevention of serious diseases or disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia, chances are there is little or no scientific support to back up those claims.